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2000
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) LEGISLATION AMENDMENT
BILL (NO. 3) 2000
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by the authority of the
Minister for
Industry, Science and Resources,
Senator the Hon Nick Minchin)
ISBN: 0642 454345
PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) LEGISLATION
AMENDMENT BILL
(NO. 3) 2000
GENERAL
OUTLINE
The proposed amendments in this Bill to the Petroleum
(Submerged Lands) Act 1967 (the Act) fall into three categories: a partial
revision of the Commonwealth-State/Northern Territory relationship in managing
offshore petroleum resources, a change in the datum provisions of the Act and a
number of technical corrections.
Under the Act, administration of
offshore petroleum resources is shared between the Commonwealth and the
States/Northern Territory. Major decisions are made by Joint Authorities
consisting of the Commonwealth Minister for Industry, Science and Resources and
the respective State or Northern Territory Minister responsible for petroleum.
On the other hand, day-to-day administration is carried out by the Designated
Authority (ie, the State or Northern Territory Minister) on behalf of the
Commonwealth.
An evaluation of the role of the Commonwealth Government in
offshore petroleum exploration and development was completed in 1998. One of the
decisions emanating from the evaluation is an initiative to reform the joint
administrative arrangements, while retaining the basic administrative framework
put in place as part of the 1979 Offshore Constitutional Settlement. An element
of this is the transfer of certain powers under offshore petroleum legislation
from the Joint Authority to the Designated Authority. These transfers of power
are addressed in this Bill and cover areas of routine administration such as
extending the application period for a production licence after a petroleum
discovery or approving title transfers. A small number of amendments of this
same type are proposed for the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Registration
Fees) Act 1967 and these are presented in the Petroleum (Submerged Lands)
(Registration Fees) Amendment Bill 2000.
Adoption of the Geocentric Datum
of Australia in Commonwealth legislation forms part of the Government’s
Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure program. The Geocentric Datum of
Australia is essentially a response to increased use of the Global Positioning
System for surveying, navigation and similar purposes. After consultation with
the States, Northern Territory and the petroleum industry, a plan has been
agreed for adopting the Geocentric Datum of Australia in the Act. The amendments
in this Bill provide the framework for this to occur. Various elements of the
implementation, as specified in this Bill, will be provided for in the
regulations to be made after the passage of the amendments.
The remainder
of the amendments in the Bill are technical amendments to remedy errors, defects
or anomalies in the Act, in the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Fees Act 1994
and in the Primary Industries and Energy Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1)
1998 which was used to amend the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act
1967. These are explained in the Notes on Individual Clauses.
If powers are transferred from the Joint Authorities to the Designated
Authorities as proposed, there will be annual savings of less than $0.1m to the
Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources in staff salary,
on-costs and administrative expenses.
Implementing the Geocentric Datum
of Australia will involve administrative action by the Designated Authorities.
Implementation will be progressed at a rate which does not exceed available
resources.
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short
title
This clause enables the Act that will come into effect if this
Bill is passed to be called the Petroleum (Submerged Lands)
Legislation Amendment Act (No. 3) 2000.
Clause 2 -
Commencement
Subclause 2(1) provides that, apart from the exceptions
referred to in subclauses (2) to (5), the Act comes into force on Royal
Assent.
Subclause 2(2) provides that the transfers of power from the
Joint Authorities to the Designated Authorities commence on the 28th
day after Royal Assent. This is to enable State and Northern Territory
authorities to do things such as organising new delegation instruments before
the transfer of powers takes effect. This is allowed under section 4 of the
Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
Subclause 2(3) provides that the
amendments to section 107 dealing with the removal of property from the seabed
are taken to have commenced on 7 March 2000, the day the Petroleum (Submerged
Lands) Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2000 came into effect. This is
because the amendments in this Bill correct minor technical errors which
thwarted the intention of the amendments in that Amendment Act (see Schedule 1,
Part 3, item 26 in the Notes on Individual Clauses). As well as this, what was
meant to be done in the Amendment Act to section 107 was merely consequential on
amendments made to other parts of the Act. In addition, if the correcting
amendments in this Bill did not date from 7 March 2000, the possibility would
exist that a direction given since 7 March 2000 to a petroleum company under
section 107 requiring it to carry out duties for the protection of the marine
environment would be invalid because of a technical deficiency in the Act.
Subclause 2(4) provides for a 6 month delay after Royal Assent to the
coming into effect of the amendments in relation to datums so as to allow
appropriate regulations to be drafted before the date of
effect.
Subclause 2(5) refers to the editorial correction to the
Primary Industries and Energy Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 1998 made
in Schedule 3. This Act commenced on 30 July 1998. The amendment in this
Bill corrects a minor technical error which thwarted the intention of the
amendments in the 1998 Amendment Act. Legal advice indicates that, since the
date of effect of the 1998 Amendment Act, a court would have interpreted the
section concerned in the way that is provided in the correcting amendment. It is
therefore appropriate for this correction to date from 30 July
1998.
Clause 3 - Schedule(s)
This clause indicates that
three Acts in all are to be amended by this Bill and the amendments in respect
of each Act are presented in a separate Schedule.
SCHEDULE 1 -
AMENDMENT OF THE PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) ACT 1967
Part 1 -
Transfer of power to the Designated Authority
Item 1 - Subsection
22A(6)
This item refers to the fact that the Joint Authority may, at
any time, by instrument in writing served on an applicant for a permit by way of
cash bidding, require the applicant to furnish, within the time specified in the
instrument, further information in writing in connection with the application.
This power is to be transferred to the Designated Authority.
Item 2 -
Paragraphs 22C(b) and (c)
This item amends paragraphs 22C(b) and (c)
because each refers to a requirement by the Joint Authority under subsection
36(6). As set out in the next item, “the Joint Authority” in that
subsection is replaced by “the Designated Authority”.
Item
3 - Subsections 36(6), (7), (8) and (9)
This item refers to
nominating a block or blocks as a location if a petroleum pool is discovered
there. Blocks are 5 minute by 5 minute areas that define petroleum tenements
under the Act. Nominating a location is a preliminary step in the process of
securing a retention lease or production licence over the area in question.
Subsections 36(6), (7), (8) and (9) give the Joint Authority powers to require a
permittee to nominate a block or blocks, extend the time for compliance with the
requirement and nominate the block or blocks if the permittee, after receiving
notice of the requirement, fails to do so. All these powers are now to be
transferred to the Designated Authority.
Item 4 - Subsection
37
Section 37 deals with declaring a location, revoking the
declaration of a location and varying a location (see the previous item for an
explanation of a “location”). The section currently vests the Joint
Authority with all powers and functions related to these actions. This item
transfers all these powers and functions to the Designated
Authority.
Item 5 - Subsection 38E(1)(a)
This item corrects
subsection 38E(1)(a) because it contains a reference to the Joint Authority in
the context of paragraph 38H(3)(b). What is done in the next item means that
this reference needs to be changed to “Designated Authority”.
Item 6 - Paragraph 38H(3)(b)
Paragraph 38H(3)(b) deals
with the conditions of a retention lease, ie, a holding title available in
situations where exploitation of a petroleum discovery is, for the time being,
uneconomic. The paragraph specifies one condition to be that the Joint Authority
may request a lessee to re-evaluate the commercial viability of petroleum
production in the lease area and inform the Joint Authority in writing of the
results of the re-evaluation. This item transfers the power to request and
receive this information from the Joint Authority to the Designated Authority.
Item 7 - Subsection 38H(4)
Subsection 38H(4) states that,
where a lessee has complied with 2 notices of the kind referred to in paragraph
38H(3)(b) during the term of the lease, the Joint Authority shall not give to
the lessee during that term a further notice of that kind. This item changes the
mention of the Joint Authority to “Designated Authority” in
conformity with the change made to paragraph 38H(3)(b).
Item 8 -
Paragraph 39A(5)(b)
Section 39A provides that the application period for a production licence is
normally 2 years from the declaration of a location. Paragraph 39A(5)(b) enables
this period to be extended for a maximum of 2 years by the Joint Authority. This
item transfers this power to the Designated Authority.
Item 9 -
Paragraph 40(4)(b)
This item performs an identical transfer of power
from the Joint Authority to the Designated Authority as is provided under
paragraph 39A(5)(b) except that, in this case, it applies to the holder of a
permit to which the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Royalty) Act 1967
applies.
Items 10, 11 and 12 - Subsection 78(1), Subsection 78(2) and
Subsections 78(4), (6), (7), (9) and (11)
These items transfer from
the Joint Authority to the Designated Authority the power to approve or refuse
the transfer of a title, for example, an exploration permit or a production
licence.
Items 13 and 14 - Subsections 81(2,) (3), (5) and (6) and
Subsections 81(10), (11), (12) and (14)
These items transfer from the
Joint Authority to the Designated Authority the power to approve or refuse a
dealing in an existing title, for example, the creation or assignment of an
interest in an existing exploration permit.
Item 15 - Subsection
81A(1)
Section 81A provides for the situation where two or more
persons enter into a dealing relating to a title that may come into existence in
the future. In that case, a provisional application for approval of the dealing
by the Joint Authority may be lodged in the same way as an application for
approval of a dealing in respect of an existing title. To conform with the
transfer of power under section 81, this item substitutes, in section 81A,
“Designated Authority” for “Joint Authority”.
Item 16 - Subsection 84(1A)
Subsection 84(1A) refers to a
dealing approved by the Joint Authority under section 81. To conform with the
transfer of power under section 81, this item deletes this
reference.
Item 17 - Subsection 85(1)
Subsection 85(1)
states that the Designated Authority may require any person to produce or to
make available for inspection by the Designated Authority or by or on behalf of
the Joint Authority any documents in the possession or under the control of that
person relating to a transfer or dealing in relation to which approval is
sought. To conform with the transfers of powers under sections 78 and 81, this
item substitutes, in subsection 85(1), “Designated Authority” for
“Joint Authority”.
Item 18 - Section 92
Section
92 refers to sections 75 to 91 of the Act, which deal with the registration of
instruments. Section 92 states, in this context, that “the Supreme
Court” has a certain meaning, among other things in relation to a
determination of the Joint Authority in respect of the adjacent area in respect
of a State or Territory. Since the Joint Authority will no longer have a
function under any of the abovementioned sections, this item omits the reference
to the Joint Authority.
Item 19 - Transitional - acts of the Joint
Authority to be attributed to the Designated Authority
This item
refers to all the powers and functions that are transferred from the Joint
Authority to the Designated Authority under the preceding items. If the Joint
Authority has been involved in an action or process under one of these powers
before the coming into effect of the amendments, this item allows the process to
be continued with the Designated Authority taking the place of the Joint
Authority. For example, under paragraph 38H(3)(b), if the Joint Authority has
requested a lessee to re-evaluate the commercial viability of petroleum
production in the lease area and the lessee has not responded before the
amendments come into effect, the lessee may respond to the Designated Authority
as if the Designated Authority had made the request.
Item 20 -
Transitional - references in instruments to the Joint Authority become
references to the Designated Authority
This item inserts a
transitional provision for dealing with records which document anything falling
under the powers and functions of the Joint Authority that have been transferred
to the Designated Authority under the above items. For example, if such a record
contains a reference to the Joint Authority and it is unclear whether that
reference is pursuant to one of these powers or not, this item enables the
Minister to issue a declaration clarifying that the reference should be read as
a reference to the Designated Authority. It is not anticipated that many records
will require such a declaration by the Minister as the transitional provisions
under item 19 will adequately cover most documents.
Item 21 -
Transitional-regulations
This item provides a power to make
regulations to deal with matters of a transitional nature arising from the
transfer of powers from the Joint Authority to the Designated Authority. This is
to cover contingencies not identified or foreseen in drafting these amendments.
Item 22 - Section 89
This item repeals section 89 because
the broadening of the scope of subsection 140AA(2) under the next item makes the
provision in section 89 superfluous.
Item 23 - Subsection
140AA(2)
Section140AA applies to the Joint Authority, a member of the
Joint Authority, the Designated Authority, an inspector and a person acting
under the direction or authority of the Joint Authority or Designated Authority.
Subsection 140AA(2) currently provides that a body or person to whom this
section applies is not liable to an action, suit or proceeding for or in respect
of an approval given in good faith under this Act, the regulations or a
direction under this Act.
By way of background, section 140AA was
inserted into the Act in 1994 to ensure that persons or companies requesting
approval of plans or proposals under the Act, the regulations or a direction
under the Act are liable for any deficiencies in those plans or approvals
provided the official concerned gave the approval in good faith. Such plans
would include Safety Cases and Environment Management Plans under the
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities)
Regulations 1996 and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Environment)
Regulations 1999.
In relation to
safety and environment protection in offshore petroleum operations, the
Commonwealth Government has already moved to objective-based regulation
and similar action is proposed for other aspects of the regime, for example
pipeline construction and management. An advantage of objective-based regulation
is that it enables petroleum companies to utilise best practice management and
implement innovative technologies as continual improvement, as opposed to
prescriptive regulation under which companies would be held back until
government had changed regulations to reflect changing practices. Accordingly,
the cost for companies in complying with regulations is lower.
Objective-based regulations also ensure that the objectives of
government and the expectations of the community in regard to safety and
environment protection standards are clearly communicated to companies. This is
changing the enforcement function of each Designated Authority as there is
progressively less in the way of prescriptive, detailed regulation and on-site
inspection and more emphasis on auditing.
Inasmuch as the role of the
Designated Authority is moving away from that of a prescriptive regulator, it is
incongruous for an official to be held personally liable for legal action in
respect of some accident or misadventure affecting a petroleum company, assuming
the official acted in good faith. Such liability of officials would also tend to
weaken the incentive for the company to accept responsibility to ensure best
practice in its management systems. Further, if general personal liability did
apply, the kind of risks petroleum companies need to deal with would raise a
question about the need for officials to carry personal liability insurance.
Legal advice indicates that, while actions by an official giving “an
approval” under the Act would generally be covered by the provision in
section 140AA, the same coverage may not extend to an official performing the
same action when it is described in different words in the Act, for example
“giving a consent” or “accepting a proposal”. Officers
acting under the direction or authority of the Joint Authority or Designated
Authority may also be involved in giving technical advice to petroleum
companies. For the reasons indicated above, personal liability should not apply
on account of some deficiency in advice given in good faith by an officer. Thus
the phrase “an approval given” inadequately expresses the range of
situations that need to be covered by subsection 140AA(2).
However, when
it comes to matters related to the registration of instruments, section 89
states, subject to section 88, that the same officials are not liable to an
action, suit or proceeding for or in respect of an act or matter in good faith
done or omitted to be done in exercise or purported exercise of any power or
authority conferred by the Act.
This item proposes to adopt the wording
of the existing section 89 in subsection 140AA(2). It would then be unnecessary
to retain section 89 as a separate provision.
Item 24 - At the end of
section 140AA
Section 88 refers to entries made in the Register of
petroleum titles kept by the Designated Authorities. The section provides that,
where a person is aggrieved by the omission of an entry from a Register, an
entry made in a Register without sufficient cause, an entry wrongly existing in
a Register or an error or defect in an entry in a Register, the Supreme Court
may make such order as it thinks fit directing the rectification of the
Register. The section also specifies certain procedures for implementing this
provision. This item inserts subsection (4), which makes the amended section
140AA subject to section 88 because the repealed section 89 is subject to
section 88.
This item inserts subsection (5) which makes it clear that
section 140AA does not affect a person’s normal rights to obtain judicial
review of administrative decisions, whether under the Administrative
Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 or otherwise.
Item 25 -
Application of amendments
This item applies the changes to section
140AA to acts or matters done or omitted to be done after the commencement of
this item.
Item 26 - Subsections 107(1) and (1A)
This item corrects a
part of the drafting errors made in amending section 107 under the Petroleum
(Submerged Lands) Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2000. The amendments
were purely consequential on some of the substantive provisions included in the
Act, specifically the creation of infrastructure licences and the indefinite
term given to pipeline licences. Account was also taken of a 1998 amendment that
made the term of new production licences indefinite.
The uncorrected
version has subsections (1) and (1A). Subsection (1), in its first line, refers
to “this section” in a way that implies that every title to which
section 107 applies is one that has ceased to have effect. However, this is
erroneous, as subsection (2) deals with the holders of current titles. This item
substitutes a combined version of subsections (1) and (1A) which makes this
point clear.
Item 27 - Paragraph 107(3)(b)
Paragraph
107(3)(b) provides that person to whom a direction is given under subsection (2)
shall comply with the direction “on or before the date of expiration of
the permit, lease, licence, infrastructure licence or pipeline licence
concerned.” However, the paragraph should not refer to the date of
expiration of an infrastructure licence or a pipeline licence, since these
titles are indefinite and cannot expire. Instead, mention needs to be made of
the first date on which they, and production licences, can be terminated.
Subject to force majeure, the Act provides that this date is 5 years after
work on constructing the relevant facility ceased or operation of the
constructed facility ceased. Certain production licences can still expire if
they were in force when the 1998 amendments to the Act were passed; otherwise,
they too are indefinite and can be terminated. This item substitutes new
paragraphs 107(3)(b) and (c) addressing these points.
Item 28 -
Transitional - section 107 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967
If, since the date of effect of the Petroleum (Submerged
Lands) Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2000, the Designated Authority has
given a person a notice under subsection 107(1A) directing the removal of
property or the like, this item deems the direction to be valid and to be under
the amended subsection 107(1). This eliminates the possibility that repeal of
subsection 107(1A) as proposed could raise questions about the validity of the
direction.
Part 4 - Datums
Item 29 - Subsection
5(1)
This item inserts a definition of the term “datum,”
which is not defined in the existing Act. The note expands on the
definition.
To grasp the meaning of a “datum”, one needs to
understand that, if the latitude and longitude of a point are given, that
information does not in itself provide the means of identifying the position of
that point on the surface of the Earth with any accuracy. A datum, the reference
surface for the latitude and longitude, also needs to be specified. If the
coordinate and datum of a point are specified and one then keeps the same
coordinate and specifies a different datum, that will send anyone trying to find
the point to a different location. The issue is similar to quoting a volume with
appropriate units, eg 100 imperial gallons is different from 100 US gallons.
In onshore surveying, the traditional technique for accurately locating
a specified point on the ground has been to measure to existing trig points with
known positions on surrounding elevated land features. The coordinates of these
trig points are not in themselves the datum but they are derived from the datum
and can be said to represent it. The coordinate of each trig point was
originally obtained by a process of working outwards from a primary reference
point. In Australia, since the 1960s, that primary reference point has been the
Johnston Geodetic Station in the Northern Territory. The latitude and longitude
of that Station has been determined very accurately, and also its elevation
above the spheroid representing the Earth (the Earth not being a perfect
sphere). All this information, together with measurements indicating the size
and shape of the spheroid, constitutes a datum, namely the Australian Geodetic
Datum (AGD) (see Annex A).
When it comes to surveying offshore, the coordinate of a point can be given
with reference to the AGD just as it can be onshore. At the moment, for purposes
of offshore petroleum exploration and production, the Act indeed specifies the
AGD as the datum for determining the position of a point, line or area. This
being the case, if one is trying to find the location of a point that is
mentioned in some title or other instrument issued under the Act, there is
generally no alternative to using a computer-based transformation program to
give geocentric coordinates that can then be used with satellite positioning to
identify the position of that point on the seabed.
When the AGD was
adopted in 1966, it was based on the Australian National Spheroid, which is an
ellipsoid designed to be the best estimate of the Earth's shape in the
Australian region, rather than from a global perspective. As a result, this
Datum is biased to the extent that it has the centre of the spheroid some 200
metres from the Earth’s centre.
A geocentric datum is one that is based on a spheroid having its centre at
the centre of the Earth. In recent decades, geocentric datums have been adopted
worldwide for most aeronautical and shipping applications due to their
international capabilities. A geocentric datum is directly compatible with the
Global Positioning System used in satellite navigation and will ensure
compatibility across various geographic information systems at the local,
regional, national and global level. In view of these benefits, Australia has
devised, and is in the process of adopting, the Geocentric Datum of Australia
(GDA) (see Annex B).
Item 30 - Subsection 5(1)
In the
geodetic sense, a “coordinate” is a set of two pieces of
information, specifically the measurement of latitude and the measurement of
longitude of a specific point. This item makes it clear that, for purposes of
the definition of “datum”, the term “geographic
coordinate” can mean a coordinate in that sense, and it can alternatively
mean a specified meridian of longitude by itself or a specified parallel of
latitude by itself.
Item 31 - At the end of subsection
5A(7)
This item refers to subsection 5A(7) which, in describing the
Coral Sea area, makes a reference to the parallel of Latitude 25º South.
This item adds a note indicating that the datum for this reference will be set
out in the new section 150M.
Item 32 - At the end of section
17
This item refers to section 17, which deals with the graticulation
of the Earth’s surface and the constitution of blocks. This item adds a
note indicating that the datum for graticular sections and blocks will be set
out in the new section 150M.
Item 33 - After Part IIIA
This
item inserts in the Act the new Part IIIB headed “Datums”.
The proposed new section 150L deals with the objects of the section. The
background to the objects is that, under the Act, areas under petroleum
exploration permits, production licences and certain other titles must consist
of integral numbers of blocks. The boundaries of these blocks are defined by
gridlines at 5 minute intervals of latitude and longitude starting
respectively from the equator and from Greenwich. The datum is the
AGD.
Because of the 200 metre dislocation mentioned in the note on item
29, if one surveyed for the position of a point that had a certain number of
degrees of latitude and a certain number of degrees of longitude referenced to
the AGD, one would not end up in the same place on the ground as one would if
one surveyed for a point with the same numbers of degrees of latitude and
longitude referenced to the GDA. The difference would be some 200 metres.
Therefore, simply accepting existing AGD coordinates as GDA coordinates in the
Act would mean that holders of existing titles under the Act would find that the
area in which they may operate had shifted by about 200 metres over the seabed.
Following consultation with stakeholders, the Government has decided that
adoption of the GDA in the Act must not lead to this result.
Instead, the
GDA is to be adopted in petroleum title administration so that the gridlines
that delineate the 5 by 5 minute blocks are relabelled with the new Datum but
without moving the title areas from their present position on the seabed. To do
this, the coordinates of corner points of title areas, which are currently
expressed as whole multiples of 5 minutes, will be transformed to unwhole
numbers of minutes under the GDA, eg 16º40’00”South,
118º15’00”East under the AGD will convert to
16º39’55.09”South, 118º15’4.63”East under the
GDA.
The Act also includes some other area descriptions, eg the
descriptions of the adjacent areas of each of the States and the Northern
Territory in Schedule 2 of the Act. Under this Bill, these descriptions are to
remain referenced to the AGD. The conversion of these descriptions to the GDA is
expected to be addressed in future legislation.
The proposed new section
150M provides that the AGD will determine the position of any block, the
parallel of Latitude 25º South mentioned in subsection 5A(7) (see note to
item 31), any adjacent area description in Schedule 2 and the area described in
Schedule 6, which delineates a prescribed safety zone under section
140A.
Sub-item (2) provides that, while the AGD will determine the
position of the things mentioned in sub-item (1), in a title or other instrument
under the Act these positions will not need to be described under the
AGD.
Sub-item (3) provides a transitional provision until the
regulations under the Act declare another datum for describing the position of a
point, line or area in a title or other instrument under the Act. Until then,
the AGD remains the datum for this purpose and no labelling of titles or
instruments in terms of the GDA may occur.
The proposed new section 150N
provides that regulations may declare a new datum (this will in fact be the GDA)
for describing the position on the surface of the Earth of a point, line or area
in a title or other instrument under the Act. This new datum is here referred to
as “the current datum”, as distinct from “the previous
datum”. Another declaration, substituting some other datum again, could be
made at some later time, for instance if the GDA was redefined because of small
continuous movements occurring in the Earth’s crust.
Sub-item (2)
defines the “previous datum” for purposes of making a declaration of
the kind referred to above. On the first occasion that such a declaration is
made, the previous datum will be the AGD.
Sub-item (3) provides for the
time of effect of a declaration of the kind referred to above to be called the
“changeover time”.
The proposed new section 150P refers to
all the different titles and other types of instruments that may be granted or
issued under the Act, but deals only with titles or other instruments granted or
issued after the changeover time. These include titles granted for the first
time and those granted as a renewal. A permit (ie, an exploration permit), lease
(ie, a retention lease) and a licence (ie, a production licence) are titles that
may be renewed, subject to various provisions of the Act. Renewal does not apply
to any other title or other instrument. An example of another instrument under
the Act would be a Gazette notice under section 20 inviting applications for an
exploration permit in respect of blocks specified in the notice. This sub-item
provides that, after the changeover time, any area, route (for pipelines), line
or point that is referred to in any one of these titles or other instruments is
to be described by reference to the “current datum”, ie, the new
datum. The title or other instrument may be annotated accordingly.
The
proposed new section 150Q refers to all the different titles and other types of
instruments that may be granted or issued under the Act and that are in force
immediately before the changeover time. Any area, route (for pipelines), line or
point that is referred to in any of these titles or other instruments is to be
described by reference to the previous datum. Section 150Q makes the point that
this is the situation as long as no regulations have been made under section
150R. However, if regulations have been made only under some sub-items of
section 150R, the titles or other instruments that have not been dealt with
under these sub-items will still be described by reference to the previous
datum.
The proposed new section 150R enables regulations to be made to
authorise variations to be made by the Designated Authority to titles and other
instruments. The titles and other instruments that may be varied are all titles
and other instruments that have been granted or issued under the Act before the
changeover time. Under sub-items (1) to (6), the purpose of the variation would
be for relabelling, using coordinates based on the current datum, any area or
route (for pipelines) that is referred to in the title to which the regulations
relate. If a regulation were made under sub-item (7), the purpose of the
variation would be for relabelling, using coordinates based on the current
datum, any point, line or area in some other instrument under the Act. Sub-item
(8) provides a regulation-making power so that the Designated Authority may
insert an annotation in any title or other instrument stating what datum applies
to that title or other instrument.
The proposed new section 150S
provides a regulation-making power so that the Designated Authority may vary an
application for a title if the area for which the title is sought is referenced
to the previous datum. The coordinates of the area in the application would then
be relabelled under the current datum and the title, if granted, would refer to
that relabelled area.
The proposed new section 150T is an overarching
provision that makes it clear that no change in the position on the surface of
the Earth of any point, line, block, pipeline route or other title area is
authorised, either as a result of describing any of them under section 150P or
as a result of relabelling any of them under section 150R (the note to section
150L refers).
The proposed new section 150U provides a power to make
regulations to cover matters of a transitional nature arising from the change
from the previous datum to the current datum. This is to cover contingencies not
identified or foreseen in drafting the rest of Part IIIB.
The proposed
new section 150V makes it clear that none of the above provisions about datums
apply to the position on the surface of the Earth of a point or line specified
in an International Sea-bed Agreement, as set out in the existing section 156A,
which is to be relabelled “section 150X”. The datum that applies to
the position of any such point or line shall continue to be whatever datum is
specified in the International Sea-bed Agreement in question.
The
proposed new section 150W provides, for purposes of the Division, definitions of
“Australian Geodetic Datum”, and “title” and clarifies
the meaning of “instrument under this Act” and “this
Act”. A copy of the Gazette Notice No. 84 of 6 October 1966, which
established the AGD, is given at Annex A.
Under Division 2 of Part IIIB,
the proposed new section 150X is inserted, which is identical in substance to
the existing section 156A dealing with the datum that applies to International
Sea-bed Agreements. Section 156A is to be repealed under the next
item.
Item 34 - Sections 156 and 156A
This item repeals
section 156, which is replaced by Part IIIB Division 1, and repeals section
156A, which is relabelled (unchanged in substance) as section
150X.
Item 35 - Schedule 2
This item updates a sub-heading
under the heading of Schedule 2. Mention of section 5 was appropriate here
before certain amendments were made to the Act in 1980. Since then, the
appropriate section to be cited in relation to this Schedule has been section
5A. The other reason for updating this sub-heading is to indicate that, to be
aware of the datum with reference to which all the coordinates in the Schedule
are to be understood, one needs to consult section 150M.
Item 36 -
Schedule 6
This item updates a sub-heading under the heading of
Schedule 6 to indicate that, to be aware of the datum with reference to which
all the coordinates in the Schedule are to be understood, one needs to consult
section 150M.
Item 37 - Subsection 152(1) (definition of relevant
decision)
Section 152 provides for the review of certain
decisions by the Commonwealth Minister. Both a “relevant” and a
“reviewable” decision can be the subject of an application to the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The difference between them is that a
“relevant” decision is one by a delegated decision-maker and must be
reconsidered by the Minister before an application to the Tribunal.
The
current definition of a “relevant decision” says, in part, that it
is a decision of a delegate of the Minister “under this Act”. This
item amends this to read “under this Act or the regulations” so that
there is no doubt that decisions made under the regulations are equally subject
to the policy that an administrative decision that will, or is likely to, affect
the interests of a person should be subject to merits review.
Item 38
- Subsection 152(1) (paragraph (a) of the definition of reviewable
decision)
The current definition of a “reviewable
decision” says, in part, that it is a decision of the Minister (not being
a decision of a delegate of the Minister) “under this Act”. For the
same reason as the previous item, this item amends this to read “under
this Act or the regulations”.
Item 39- Application of
amendments
This item makes it clear that the amendments set out in
items 37 and 38 do not have any retrospective application.
SCHEDULE 2 -
AMENDMENT OF THE PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) FEES ACT 1994
Items 1
and 2 - Paragraph 4(2)(b)
Section 4 of the Petroleum (Submerged
Lands) Fees Act 1994 provides that the holder of an exploration permit, a
retention lease, a production licence, an infrastructure licence or a pipeline
licence must pay a fee in respect of each year of the term of the permit, lease
or licence. Subsection 4(2) states that the fee is payable to the Designated
Authority and “is to be calculated in accordance with the
regulations.”
Legal advice has been received indicating this means
that only a method of calculation of the fee may be prescribed, for example,
$3,000 per block for an exploration permit. In other words, it is doubtful
whether a flat fee per title could be prescribed. The amendments in these items
would change the paragraph to say the fee “is to be specified in, or
calculated in accordance with, the regulations.” This would allow, for
each of the titles, the prescribing of either a flat amount or a formula, as
deemed appropriate.
SCHEDULE 3 - AMENDMENT OF THE PRIMARY INDUSTRIES AND
ENERGY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT ACT (NO. 1) 1998.
Item 1 - Paragraph
47(1)(a) of Schedule 1
When the Bill which became the Primary
Industries and Energy Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 1998 was considered
by Parliament, it contained amendments to the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act
1967 which were designated as items 39A to 39G. It also contained item 39H which
stated, in part, that if the operation of any of items 39A to 39G would
result in the acquisition of property from a person otherwise than on just
terms, the Commonwealth would be liable to pay compensation in respect of the
acquisition.
After the Bill was passed by Parliament, it was edited so that items 39A
to 39H were relabelled as items 40 to 47. However, a mention of items 39A
to 39G in item 47 was inadvertently left unchanged. This item corrects the
error.
ANNEX A
Copy of Notice published in Commonwealth Gazette No. 84
- 6th October 1966, page 4984.
NATIONAL MAPPING COUNCIL
At the twenty-fourth meeting of the National Mapping Council
held in
Melbourne the Council, on the 21st April 1966,
adopted the following datum
for Australian Geodetic Surveys:
Designation. - The Australian Geodetic
Datum.
Reference Spheroid. - The Australian National Spheroid with
a
major (equatorial) radius of 6,378,160 metres and a
flattening of
1/298.25.
Origin - The Johnston Geodetic Station situated in the
Northern
Territory at East Longitude 133° 12' 30.0771" and South
Latitude 25° 56' 54.5515" and with a ground level elevation
of
571.2 metres above the Spheroid.
B. P. LAMBERT, Director of National
Mapping,
Chairman of National Mapping Council.
ANNEX B
Copy of Notice published in Commonwealth of Australia
Gazette No. GN 35 -
6 September 1995, page
3369
NEW GEODETIC DATUM FOR AUSTRALIA
The
meeting of the Inter-governmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping held in
Canberra on 28-29 November 1994 adopted the following new geodetic datum for
Australia and recommended its progressive implementation Australia-wide by 1
January 2000:
Designation.- The Geocentric Datum of Australia
(GDA).
Reference Ellipsoid.- Geodetic Reference System 1980 (GRS80)
ellipsoid with a semi-major axis (a) of 6 378 137 metres exactly and an inverse
flattening (l/f) of 298.257 222 101.
Reference Frame.- The GDA is
realised by the co-ordinates of the following Australian Fiducial Network (AFN)
geodetic stations referred to the GRS80 ellipsoid determined within the
International Earth Rotation Service Terrestrial Reference Frame 1992 (ITRF92)
at the epoch of 1994.0:
South
Latitude East Longitude Ellipsoidal Height
AU
012 Alice Springs 23° 40' 12.44592" 133° 53' 07.84757"
603.358 metres
AU 013 Karratha 20° 58' 53.17004"
117° 05' 49.87255" 109.246 metres
AU 014 Darwin
12° 50' 37.35839" 131° 07' 57.84838" 125.197 metres
AU 015 Townsville 19° 20' 50.42839" 146° 46'
30.79057" 587.077 metres
AU 016 Hobart 42° 48'
16.98506" 147° 26' 19.43548" 41.126 metres
AU 017
Tidbinbilla 35° 23' 57.15627" 148° 58' 47.98425"
665.440 metres
AU 019 Ceduna 31° 52' 00.01664"
133° 48' 35.37527" 144.802 metres
AU 029 Yaragadee
29° 02' 47.61687" 115° 20' 49.10049" 241.291 metres
H. Houghton
Chairman
Inter-governmental Committee on Surveying and
Mapping